Under The Cherry Blossom Tree
by Sanich Iyonni
Summary: The right moment of kissing was when you and your couple wanted to do it. Using Japanese name. For AzikaRue394's MaxMariam contest.


A/N: This is made for AzikaRue394's MaxMariam contest. Sorry for grammar mistakes.

**Disclaimer: **Aoki Takao-sensei

**Timeline: **Soon after season 2, before season 3.

**Note: **This fanfic uses Japanese name. Takao is Tyson, Kyouju is Kenny, and Hiromi is Hilary.

**~Under The Cherry Blossom Tree~**

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I always loved spring, especially in Japan. When spring came, I would go to Japan and spend some weeks there with my daddy. When I was still a young kid, my mom usually came with me. Then I and my parents would go to the park and do _hanami_—a Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of blooming cherry blossoms. We would be having a little outdoor party beneath the cherry blossom trees—just my parents and me. I really enjoyed those moments.

On these recent years, my mom had been busier because of her job. She couldn't go to Japan as easy as before. This condition made me have to fly to Japan alone when the spring had come. My mom would escort me at the airport with a sad-expression on her face.

I knew how she regretted her inability to go with me. She loved cherry blossom so much, because it was the thing which united her and my daddy.

When I was child, more than twice a week my parents told me about their first meeting until they got married. I had memorized that story, since it was told to me so often. It was a sweet story, indeed.

So, there was a legendary cherry blossom tree in the town where my daddy lived. It was called _ai no sakura_, which means 'the cherry blossom of love'. The legend was if there is a couple kissed under it when it's blooming, they will be a blissful couple forever.

Maybe it sounded too cliché and incredulous, especially for men. Initially, my daddy was one who disbelieved that legend. But who expected that the tree would be the place where he met his future wife?

My mom was an American college student who came to Japan to do a research for her thesis about beyblade. She was sent to my daddy's town. During her days there, she sometimes took a walk to visit some famous and interesting place. One of those places was the legendary cherry blossom tree.

And my daddy first saw her when she was admiring the tree.

"I felt like being in heaven at that time, Max. Your mom and the sakura petals which fell around her… she really looked like an angel!" that was a sentence that my daddy always said when he told that part. Then my mom would hold his hand lovingly, smiling. I chuckled; I liked seeing them like that.

Back to the story. Not too long after their first meeting, they got acquainted. And then, before my mom went back to America, my daddy declared his love—in very bad English—beneath the legendary tree. My mom accepted it. They two kissed for the first time there.

"And look at us now, Max! We are a blissful couple, aren't we?" my daddy ended the story by asking me. I didn't answer it, because it wasn't needed. I usually just grinned.

My daddy and my mom were still so close now, even though they were apart. I was so grateful for having them as my parents. And I always hoped to be like them someday—living happily together with my soul-mate.

Then I got my chance to do the first step to actualize that dream on my homecoming to Japan this spring.

###

I believed that I was the luckiest boy in the world when Mariam became my girl. I asked her to do a beybattle with a bet: if I win, she be my girl. She didn't accept it, but when finally I defeated her, she didn't refuse the bet either.

So that was it. We officially became a couple.

I truly loved her, although she was always sarcastic and apathetic. I loved teasing her that she's just too ashamed to show her affection towards me. If it was so, she would mock me by saying that I'm just a childish little boy and something like that.

Well, I never really cared about all of her quips. As long as she didn't ask to end our relationship, I would ignore what she said about me.

We'd been a couple for three months, but I had not kissed her yet at all. It was caused by our long-distance relationship. I wasn't in Japan everyday and otherwise, she couldn't approach me in America.

That was the first reason. The second was I wanted to kiss her under the legendary cherry blossom tree.

But Mariam was not an easy girl to be kissed, was she?

"I want you to accompany me to go to some place, Mariam," I said to her today, when finally I met her.

"Where?"

"You'll know."

She snorted.

"If that place is far from here, I won't go."

I smiled. I'd been accustomed to see her like that, so it wasn't a problem at all.

"Don't act like that," I held her hand. "We don't meet everyday, so I want to spend my time with you as much as I can."

"What about your daddy?"

My smile got wider. See? Actually, she really cared about me!

"I have helped him at his shop. Moreover, he knows well that I want to take a walk with you."

"And your team?"

"Now is spring, so the new school year has begun. Takao, Kyouju, and Hiromi go to school. Rei is in China. And I don't know where Kai is."

She said nothing after hearing my answer.

"So you will come with me, won't you?"

"Only if the place is not far."

"Believe me, America is farther."

She rolled her eyes. I chuckled.

"I consider it as 'yes'," I said cheerfully. "Let's go now. You'll like that place, Mariam."

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"Here it is."

I stopped my step in front of the tree. It always made me amazed, although I'd seen it for many times—not just once or twice. It was absolutely beautiful.

Then I turned my head to my girl.

"So, Mariam…"

"Wonderful," she murmured, totally enthralled. "This is the best sakura tree I've ever seen."

I smiled hearing her words.

"This is not an ordinary tree. This is a legendary cherry blossom tree."

"Legendary?"

I nodded.

"If there is a couple kissed under this tree when it's blooming, they will be a blissful couple forever."

She gazed on me, then laughed.

"Now I know why you asked me to go here," she said teasingly. "You're growing up, Max-chan."

I blushed.

"I just want to enjoy its beauty—"

"You lied," she cut my sentences, chuckling.

"Okay!" I gave up. "You have known my aim. So? Will we?"

"Oh, apparently you're still a naïve boy. Kissing is not something to be done haphazardly. It has to be done naturally; by heart."

"You said that like you're an expert in kissing," I commented. It was really hard to hide my jealousy. "Have you ever done it before? How many times? With whom?"

But Mariam just shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, Max, girls are sensitive about kissing," she said, not answering my questions.

I shook my head. Girls were difficult to be understood.

"So?"

"So," she held both of my cheeks, turning my face to look at her. "First, we must have the right moment."

My eyes were stuck on hers. My heartbeat started being uncontrolled. The right moment? When? How would I know when it comes?

_It has to be done naturally._

Mariam's words floated in my mind. And then, I understood.

The right moment of kissing was when you and your couple wanted to do it.

The wind blew gently…

.

Sakura petals fell around us…

.

And the time stopped.

We were kissing.

For the first time. Beneath the legendary cherry blossom tree.

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We sat down, leaning on the tree's trunk. We enjoyed the beauty of sakura flowers above us.

"Well, that wasn't how I expected our first kiss to be," I remarked, breaking the silence.

Mariam raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yeah," I grinned widely. "It was much better."

She rolled her eyes. I chuckled.

"Let's go home," she stood up. I nodded. Then we went away, leaving the legendary cherry blossom tree.

"Although it's still so far to prove whether the legend is true or not, I believe it will come true," I said to her.

"We'll see."

"Wanna bet?"

"No, thanks. I'm sick of betting with you."

.

.

.

We had been a blissful couple, hadn't we?

**The End**

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A/N: I couldn't think for an odd one for their first kiss, so... that was it. Well, I had no much time to think about the idea. Thanks for reading, and thanks more for reviewing! ^_^


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